A New Professor (Open)

[Juan Marcos]

Juan Marcos sat at a table in the corner of the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley. He was an interesting fellow to look at and he was painfully aware of the eyes upon him. To the spectator’s credit, it was not often that a vampire visited a local wizarding haven. Vampires preferred to avoid wizarding folk as much as possible because of the natural prejudice that arose during these encounters. But I digress, Juan, being a vampire, was naturally pale, but in a way that avoided looking sickly. His hair was jet black and hung a bit below his ears. It also covered the left half of his face, concealing one of his bloodred eyes. His clothes matched his hair, black as his current mood, and he sat at a table in the back of the pub; away from everyone else. Currently, he was idly running his finger around the rim of his cup; deep in thought.

Juan had received a position at Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry beginning the next term. And he had to admit, at least to himself, he was more than a bit nervous. It had been a long time since any other magical creatures had been admitted as professors at the school. The current head of the school was not so tolerant as Albus Dumbledore had been. Juan would have to deal with this, as well as the parents’ views on vampires, and it was more than likely that he would have the Ministry breathing down his neck as well.

Juan sighed, “When will people learn that not all vampires supported Voldemort?” he thought.

Still… It may yet prove to be worth the ordeal. He had finally gotten a job, away from the other vampires, as a Professor of Astronomy. Despite being nervous he was looking forward to it.

[sergei]

Sergei Walked into the leaky cauldron and looked around. The first thing that he noticed was that many of the other patrons, even the bar tender, were staring at one man who sat alone in the corner. Sergei lifted an eyebrow, and took a closer look at the man. A vampire... Here? no wonder why people are staring... Wait... that's the one who took the job as a Professor! I need to talk to him... Walking over to Where the vampire was sitting, Sergei placed his hand on the back of an empty chair. "Professor Marcos, I presume? May I talk with you?" Without waiting for an answer, Sergei sat down. "I don't know if you know already, but my name is Sergei Thanatos. I understand that you have received the position of Professor of Astronomy, am I correct?"
The barman, who had been hesitant to walk over to the vampire before, walked over and offered to take an order of drinks. Without even looking at him, Sergei answered, "the usual." The barman bowed and walked away, almost eager to leave the vampire's presence. Turning to Juan, Sergei took off his hat and smiled. "i am impressed at your patience, young man."

[Juan Marcos]

The vampire quirked an eyebrow as the aging man sat down across from him, “Young man huh? To me you are just a child.”

He looked the man in front of him over several times. By human standards he was quite old, Juan had never been good at judging humans’ ages, but he would say the man across from him was somewhere in his sixties. He had silvery white hair that was longer than the norm and a small beard. The man wore a long trench coat which made his head look rather bare without a hat.

“If you know who I am, I believe it would be safe to assume that you know what I am as well,” he continued calmly, “But I refuse to talk of important matters or even insignificant ones until you tell me who you are and what you represent.”

[sergei]

Sergei nodded. "Acceptable. You are speaking with Sergei Thanatos, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Indeed I know what you are, and that is why I am here talking to you. Do you realize that there will be frightened parents that would try and get you taken out of your position? even the possibility of a student doing something drastic, say... throw a crucifix at you?" Sighing, Sergei shook his head.

Running a hand through his hair, he looked up at the vampire. "Also, I am going to be assigning an Auror to watch your living quarters during the day and your classroom when it is in session, as there is an issue of trust here."

The barman came over and gave Sergei a cup of tea, to which Sergei nodded and paid for. Taking a sip, his gaze returned to Juan. "It's not that I don't trust you..."

[Juan Marcos]

“Not to be rude Senor Thanatos, but you are making it perfectly clear that you do not trust me, so why bother pretending that you do?” he commented wryly, “We’re not friends, so why lie to each other?”

Juan had known this was coming, but that did not mean that he was any less offended or irritated by it. He knew that there would be concerned parents and that the Ministry would have to appease them by sticking their noses into his business, but nevertheless, he could not allow his living quarters to be monitored. A vampire’s sleeping location is never to be revealed, especially to humans. A vampire’s most vulnerable state is his dormant one.

“I am afraid I cannot allow you to monitor my living space,” he continued, “And as for crucifix’s, that is simply a myth. If I may be frank… I believe you are being quite prejudiced about this whole matter.”

[sergei]

Sergei sighed. "Well, I am sorry. You will be monitered, but there is a chance that i could tell the person monitoring you to... I dont know, stand outside the tower that you sleep in? I could say that I trust you fully, but as you have said so yourself, I don't, which is true. I have had my share of bad experiences with vampires." Shaking his head to clear away the past, Sergei continued. "Other than that, you wont be bothered by anyone except students, the occasionall staff member... I admit I dont know very much about vampires, so enlighten me if you will. How will you preform your 'feeding' actions while at the castle?" Sergei took a sip of his tea, wondering if the man across from him could read emotions. I sure hope not, or he'll be having one big headache...

"Oh and, If people think that they have something on you, say they think you are weak to the crucifix, i wouldnt go around correcting them, as they may become curious as to what your weaknesses truely are, and they might try to find out. You know what I mean?"

[Juan Marcos]

Juan laughed, a sound which, when made by a vampire, is quite musical. He held a hand to his head as he did so and the poor auror was left to wonder what it was that he’d said that the vampire found so amusing.

“My ‘feeding’ actions, Senor?” Juan had to bite back another chuckle, “Please, don’t refer to it with such disgust. I assure you, a vampire needn’t kill to get their share. Nor do we need to drink from humans. There are plenty of creatures in the Forbidden Forest, or so I am told, and I can get all I need from various blood banks in the wizarding community. Was it not the Ministry who created them to deal with the vampire ‘problem’?”

[sergei]

Sergei snorted. "The reason that there is a 'Problem' is because many vampires refuse to drink blood from said blood banks or from forest creatures." Sighing, Sergei shook his head.

"Many of the creatures of the forbidden forest are dangerous. Even to one like you, they would be more than a slight irritation. Also, there are Werewolves in the forest, something that I thought you might need to know, incase you werent aware of it. Surely, as the legends go, werewolves and vampires can be fatal when mixed together?" Sergei chuckled.

"Anyways. I am only asking these questions out of protocol. If you dont understand my reasons, try to look at it from my standpoint. You are the head of the department, and the entire public is looking at you to keep them and their relations safe. All of the sudden, you have a creature that lives majorly in people's imaginations or unnoticed in a dark corner accepted as a teacher. How would you feel if you learned that your children were going to be in an enclosed room, at night, with a full-grown vampire?" Sergei scratched his chin. "They are scared of you, and it is my job to make them not scared. Got it?"

[Juan Marcos]

Juan chuckled a bit and replied in his usual sarcastic manner, “My friend, if my children were being taught by a vampire other than myself, we’d have a lot more to be worried about than the fact that he was a vampire.”

“As far as I know, I have no children,” he explained, “And if I did, they would have to be over five hundred years old. You cannot have children once you are turned.”

He sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair and then down his face, “I know the position you are in Senor, but that does not mean I have to like your decision. I will, however, respect it.”

(Gah... Sorry about the shortness of the post.)

[sergei]

Sergei sighed. "Indeed. What boundaries of privacy would you like to have respected? For instance; what times would you like for the auror who is going to be watching you not within ten feet of you? Any preference?"

"aside from that, i'd say that buisness is done here... Unless you have any other questions? I'd be more than happy to answer them, but a man of over 500 must know quite a lot of things." Chuckling again, Sergei studied the vampire. A fascinating creature, no doubt. yet... one to be wary of. Every coin has two sides...

[Juan Marcos]

The vampire stared at the man across from him for several tense moments before he spoke. Juan was generally a patient man, but this meeting had pushed him to his limits and he was suddenly not feeling very charitable. His red eyes narrowed as he took in the man’s words. This official from the Ministry was making it quite clear that they were not his friends. They pretended to have his interests in mind, but in all reality, cared only for the wizards who paid the taxes that funded their paychecks.

“Senor, do not make the mistake of believing that I do not know the way this world works,” he replied coldly, “I may not be a wizard, but I am a part of this community. I have been around long enough to know when people are lying through their teeth.”

His bloodred glare bore into the aging man as Juan struggled to find the right words to speak. Over five hundred years and he still had trouble speaking without the use of threats when he was angry. And Juan was indeed angry. He was beyond it. So much so that he could feel it eating away inside of him. He would have to feed early tonight if he wanted to avoid a mishap. Wouldn’t that be perfect? They’d have him locked up in Azkaban faster than you could say “oops!”.

Finally, slowly and through bared and gritted fangs, he said, “I do not wish to have any guard of yours. If you insist on assigning one, he will stay at the foot of the tower. He will not, for any reason, set foot upon the stairs. Or else I warn you, you will have one less guard to pay.”

[sergei]

Sergei burst out into laughter. Not that the vampire was being funny, but his last statement struck a chord and set a loud, racious laughter loose upon the bar. Luckily, it wasnt very busy, so there werent that many people that might find it rude. Sergei laughed untill he ran out of breath. It wasnt a cruel laugh though, an dhe hoped the vampire didnt take too much offense to it...

When he finished, he could barely breathe. "Sorry about that, but the thought of having one less Auror to pay just brought up a very random spasm of laughter... one that really didnt have anything to do with what you said..." Sergei blinked a few times, cleared his throat, and wiped his eyes.

After regaining his composure, he recalle dwhat the vampire had said. "The foot of the tower? Hmmmm... That won't do... How about this: from 5:00Am untill the beginning of your first class, the Auror will stand at the foot of the stairs. Whenever there is a class going on, the auror will be inside the classroom, at the back, not making any noise or anything. After a little while, when your students begin to trust you, and the parents begin to trust you, the Auror will retire to being outside of the classroom door. We hope to be able to get it to a point where the auror only needs to stand guard during your sleeping hours, at the foot of the tower. But, with the way the public is so stirred up, that may be a while. Whadda'ya say to that?"

[Juan Marcos]

Like a lightning bolt, with a speed that far surpassed the human eye, the vampire was next to the auror. He was close enough for the old man to feel Marcos' breath upon his neck. It was true, breathing was not a necesity for vampires, but many did simply out of habit or to intimidate others when at this close a range.

The vampire spoke in low deliberate tones, "I wished for nothing more than this to be a friendly meeting. But you have offended myself and my honor in such a way as cannot be ignored. I will not allow my rights to be intruded upon in such a manner when I have committed no crime. I will teach my class as I see fit, without intrusion. There will be no auror in my classroom, or may merlin help you and your Ministry."

Just as quickly as he'd appeared next to the man, he was across from him. Juan stood, gathering the few things he had brought with him. He turned his back on Sergei and began to walk away.

"I believe this concludes our little chat," he commented, "I will look for your man at the foot of my tower come next term. Good day."

[sergei]

Sergei, who had been expecting something along the lines of what Juan did, sighed. "very well then. I am glad we could reach an agreement." As Sergei said this, he shook up and hardened his expression. "However, until further notice, there will be an Auror watching your classroom and classes!" His eyes flashed, a sure sign that he was not going to be swayed on this decision. "Furthermore, if I hear or find out that the Auror has been harmed in any way, then I will personally see to it that there is a punishment!" Curling his left hand into a fist and spat his next words through gritted teeth. "Oh, and thank you for your cooperation, Señor. I expect to see you soon. Very soon."

And with that, Sergei slowly sat back down, his left hand flicking open so his wand could slide down from its holding place in his sleeve. This guy may be a vampire, but I don’t care. I have been face to face with death, and I was scared then. This doesn’t even come close. Though Sergei said this to himself, the hairs on the back of his neck were raised. Sure, he wasn’t scared. But he wasn’t stupid either.

[Juan Marcos]

Juan grinned and laughed at the man; he laughed in a way that only a vampire can. It was musical as it had been before, but it was twisted and unnatural, filled with an undertone of what could almost be called sarcasm. It drew one in, if nothing else, with almost a hypnotic effect; it left you wondering what you had just heard, with your mind still trying to separate the different sounds within it.

"Punishment Señor?" he replied, still laughing, "I cannot see you as capable of harming me anymore than you already have with your horrible pronunciation of my native language. Be aware of your accents Señor."

The vampire held his side a bit as the laughter subsided. Then, he casually wiped a tear from the corner of his right eye and grinned, fangs showing, "I will do as I see fit Señor. Though I am not on the best of terms with my people, I can assure you that they would be most distressed by the blatant discrimination of the Ministry. I cannot be held responsible for their actions should this somehow get back to them."

He paused and the grin faded from his face, "And as I have stated, tried to state civilly on several occasions, I will not tolerate any aurors in my classroom!"